Christmas Coffee Cake

My mom used to make this coffee cake every Christmas. Well, maybe not every Christmas but I can't remember a time without it!! It's a recipe from my grandma and now I make it during the holidays. It's simply called Coffee Cake. It's what we have for breakfast on Christmas morning...before, during, and after opening gifts.

Coffee Cake:
soften 2 packets dry yeast in 1/2 cup warm water

Combine in saucepan:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk (I use soymilk)
2 tsp salt
Stir to melt all ingredients together

Blend in 3 eggs and the softened yeast

Add 5 to 5 1/2 cups flour (I use half white and half whole wheat) and form a stiff dough
Knead for 3-5 minutes (my kitchenaid mixer gets a workout!)
Let rise in warm place for about 2 hours or until dough gets 2x size

For filling you'll need:
2/3 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon, combined
jam (i use homeade, whatever flavor I have handy)
nuts (optional)

Divide dough into 2 parts
Form each part into a rectangle
Spread with melted butter and small amount of jam


Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mix.


Roll up (long end first) and seal edge and ends.
Place seamed side down on greased cookie sheet. I always use my round pizza stone for this part. Curve to shape a 'U'.
With scissors, make cuts down center, about 1/3 of the way into the roll.


Let these rise in warm place for 30 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (or until golden brown).

Let coffee cakes cool
Frost with 1 cup powdered sugar + 1 tsp vanilla + 1-2 tsp milk


And my coffee cakes always leak! No matter how well I seal the seams and edges and ends, I always get jam oozing out. So don't overfill with jam, because it will erupt in the oven and cause a huge mess that smells like your oven is on fire. Don't ask me how I know.



I slice it up and people can just grab what they want. I like to heat up a few pieces in the microwave, maybe slap some butter on and enjoy with a nice hot cup of tea. Nothing like this coffee cake for Christmas morning breakfast!!

Thanks Kayla for helping me bake yesterday! We love to bake together, she is an expert at rolling out dough. And my son is an expert at eating. Alot.

Merry Christmas Eve!!! We are very excited about Christmas tomorrow. We are hopefully hitting the beach later today (yes, the weather is wonderful here) and then putting out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. And I hope you have a great Christmas tomorrow with family and friends. Thanks so much for stopping by!